The issue I see so rarely raised is who exactly is law designed to protect. We can imagine a world where copyright is enforced they way content producers want

The issue I see so rarely raised is who exactly is law designed to protect. We can imagine a world where copyright is enforced they way content producers want and everybody is a proper citizen and pays for music and movies. We can also imagine a world where only commercial copyright is enforced (and preferably for a limited time), and people are free to share music and movies. The basic question is, "Which world do we want to live in?". It's a choice... there is nothing fundamentally "right" or "wrong" about either. The discussions about stealing and morality are completely besides the point. It's all about consequences. Will expanding copyright make for a better world, or is it just a reaction of the incumbent industry trying to protect its profits? Will cutting copyright protection (definitely not destroying it) make things easier for the little guy, protect human rights (like free speech and privacy) and ultimately increase creativity, or will it cause a collapse of the entertainment industry and lessen the available content? We should be free to make this choice, vote on it and suffer the consequences.